Almost
by PlaidShirtDazeAndKnights
Summary: She passed through and bumped against civilians on the village on her way. It is very clear to their minds that she's from the fastest squad in the Leaf, but this was the very first time they saw how fast she can be. 'Damn it! Where are you! Where are you, Neji' her mind panicked. NejiTen one-shot.


**Almost**

**Disclaimer:** Last time I checked, Neji just… ugh. So if I own it, then there's no way in hell that would happen AND this wouldn't be OOC.

**Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto**

**Word Count: 2,727**

**Setting:** Pre-Shippuuden, Sasuke Retrieval Arc

She's running...

Running as if her whole life depends on it...

Well, it really was.

She's running...

Running as fast as she can...

Why is it that the village gate seems so far this time of noon?

She's running...

Running with all her might...

Where is he?

She's running...

Running faster than time...

At last, she can now see the gate from her vicinity.

She passed through and bumped against civilians on the village on her way. It is very clear to their minds that she's from the fastest squad in the Leaf, but this was the very first time they saw how fast she can be.

_'Damn it! Where are you?! Where are you, Neji?'_ her mind panicked.

After thirty long minutes of running, she arrived at the village's entrance and found Hatake Kakashi talking to some Medical ninja. She went to the white-haired jounin.

"Kakashi-sensei." she called.

"Oh, Tenten? Anything I can do for you?"

"Neji and Lee are nowhere to found, did something happened?" she asked while panting deeply.

"Sasuke left the village last night. Shikamaru was assigned to bring him back. He was with Naruto, Chouji, Kiba and Neji on a five-man squad. They left early this morning and their not yet back. Pakkun said he found Chouji and Neji unconscious with serious wounds and went on a fight with Orochimaru's peo-"

"Can I come? Please." she said cutting off the jounin.

"The Medical team will be finding them to give immediate medical attention then they will bring them back here to the village for the needed treat-"

"Please, let me go."

"*sigh* If you insist then, you may."

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei." she bowed then ran after the team.

_'Neji... Neji... why didn't you even tell me? I have wasted so much time waiting. Damn you, jerk! Why are you making me worry?!'_ she was lost in thoughts.

As she was jumping on every branch, she can't help but to overthink. It was taking too long and they were getting farther and farther from the village's territory.

Not until one medic found an unconscious Chouji lying on the ground, free from his usual chubby look.

"There! I found Akimichi Chouji!" he shouted.

They went down to check on him. Tenten looked around the area hoping to see a sign of Neji, but there was none. But she found one person from the Sound Five... dead.

_'Chouji did fight on this fatso. From the looks of it, he won.'_ she assumed.

"I'll be bringing him back to the village. Go find the others." one medic stated then jumped on trees carrying Chouji in his arms, heading to the village.

The rest continued searching for the other genins.

_'This is insane! They sent only genins to run after Sasuke?!'_ she thought.

While on their way, she found traces of spider webs scattered around and some weapons which is made from a material she's not familiar with. It was brown, brittle and perfectly sharpened. The webs were made of chakra and can't be cut by any ordinary weapon.

A hundred meters more, she found a crater... made by Kaiten.

"STOP!" she yelled.

The team halted from jumping and they followed Tenten as she went to the crater. There's no way that she can't recognize this crater was from the Kaiten. She knew it all too well.

"This crater was from the Hyuuga's Kaiten. Neji is somewhere near here." she assumed.

She looked around again. There are more of those weapons made from the brittle material and more spider webs.

She noticed a long piece of the spider web. It was very unusual because most of the webs were cut, but this one measures for around fifty meters long.

She followed the track of this web and later she found its end. She looked to her left and there she found him.

"Neji! Neji!" she approached him.

He was lying on the ground with his face covered by his hair, a feather on one hand, while he holds his forehead protector on the other. His hair was untied and his forehead was bare. There were also a deep wound on the left side near his stomach and another on his left shoulder. He looks so... dead.

"Medic! Medic! I found Hyuuga Neji!" she shouted and one medic ninja came.

"Let me take a look..." the medic requested. He checked his vital signs. "...he's still alive but he is very critical. More critical than the kid from the Akimichi. The wound from his stomach went all the way through him. This kid was wise; he did not let any organ to be damaged severely."

She sighed from relief. He's still alive, but he's critical.

The other medic found one ninja from the Sound Five, which was Neji's opponent but she ignored it. Her mind was occupied by Neji right now.

"I will bring him back. Find the others, please." with that, she left.

She carried Neji on her back then jumped to the trees again. Branch by branch. She grew a little impatience. She's running out of chakra because she's been running full speed earlier. But she's determined. She focused more chakra on her feet and her speed increased.

She arrived at the village in no time. She went straight to the hospital and there she found Shizune waiting for her.

"Lay him down here." the older kunoichi commanded and she obliged. She lay Neji on the hospital bed and nurses took him to a room.

"Tenten, have a rest. You are near your limitations. We will take care of him."

"Lady Shizune, please... please save him." she said in almost a whisper, in her most sincere way.

Shizune patted her shoulder, as if giving her assurance.

"We will, Tenten. We will do our best. We can't afford to lose such skilled shinobi. More of that, we can't afford to lose a friend." she smiled warmly.

_'...to lose a friend.'_

"Thank you, thank you." Tenten said then Shizune left.

Her knees weakened. She sat on the floor feeling a little weak.

'He's strong. He will get through this. He will make it. 'Cause if he don't, I'll be the one to kill him. Swear!'

She tries to cheer herself up... but she did not succeed. Tears are streaming on her eyes. She wiped them with the back of her hand before they could run down her cheeks.

_'Stop crying! It doesn't suit you! You're crying over that ignorant jerk?! Oh come on!'_ Unfortunately, her eyes are doing the opposite. Tears won't stop flowing and she grew tired on wiping them because it is no use. She just let the stupid tears to flow.

_'I hate you, Neji. I hate you for making me feel this way.'_ she thought then everything went black.

She woke up on an unfamiliar room, white walls, white ceiling, white everything.

_'Am I in heaven?'_ she thought.

She sat on the hospital bed then scanned the room. She felt her head was light so she touched it. She's not wearing her forehead protector. She looked around to find it, and there goes the bedside table, with two forehead protectors on it, one is polished, and the other is not looking well.

She reached for the forehead protectors. She wore hers and she held the other on her hand, tightly. She saw a note beside her.

"Intensive Care Unit 7," she read it aloud.

She tried her best to stand up and went out of her room. She searched for the room stated in the note.

She found one closed room with a bright sign above the door read as 'Intensive Care Unit 7'.

_'The operation is still ongoing'_ she thought.

She sat on the benches, waiting for the door to open. She felt a huge amount of chakra through the door. Must be a very complicated operation that needs enormous amounts of chakra.

She waited and waited more...

_'How is he? Is he alright? Wait, I forgot about Lee! He escaped from his room this morning! Wait, it's already 6 in the evening, the operation is ongoing for 8 hours already. Do I need to-'_

The door suddenly opened and she automatically stood up from her seat.

"Lady Shizune, how is he?" she asked.

"The operation is a success. Hyuuga Neji is now stable and free from danger."

Her knees weakened again and tears streamed on her eyes again.

"*sob* Thank you! Thank you, Lady Shizune. *sob* He's... He's important to me. He's the only person I have. I can't afford to-"

"Tenten, I bet you are important to him, too. *chuckles*"

"H-huh?"

"He murmured your name many times during the operation. Looks like he's thinking about you, all the time." then she smiled.

"L-lady Shizune..."

"You can visit him right after he is transferred into an ordinary room. It was about three hours after this very minute. And I need to go to tell Lady Tsunade about his condition. Take care of him, okay? He needs someone, and I'm sure that someone is... you." Shizune said then she immediately left not even waiting for Tenten's response.

_'I-important... to him? I wish...'_

**Room 309**

**Hyuuga Neji**

That's the sign on the door says.

It was a good 9 o'clock in the evening, and she's still wide awake.

She took a deep, deep breath before opening the door - the only thing that separates them right now. She gripped on his forehead protector that she is holding right now. It is now polished; it gained its old luster again. Then she slid the door open.

She found him peacefully sleeping on the hospital bed. She approached him and sat on the chair beside him.

For the last seventeen hours today, it was the very first time she saw him. He looked way better from what she saw on him earlier.

He looked so peaceful when he's asleep. By just merely looking at him, she can feel his warmth and not the coldness that he shows to everyone. He looks so... warm.

Absent-mindedly, she ran his fingers through his hair. It lost a few inches but its still envious and gorgeous as ever. It gives her the relaxation she wanted after the stress she went through that day.

"Wake up you bastard. You have a lot to tell me once you opened those eyes of yours. Why didn't you tell me you'll be skipping training today? I looked like an idiot on the training grounds waiting for you, damn it. You almost got yourself killed, you know? I hate you! Why do you have to make me worry like this?! What did you do to make me feel like this? What have you done to make me... love you like this? I hate... no, I love you. *sigh* Thank heavens you're asleep and you can't hear me."

She kept on running her fingers through his hair then she stopped, fixing the blanket on him. She stared at him once more.

"Neji, you better wake up or else..." then she drifted to sleep. Well, she didn't know that.

The sun was already high when she woke up and Neji is still asleep. She fell asleep on her seat. She fixed herself and stretched. She opened the window of his room, letting the sun rays to come in, and the wind to enter.

"Good morning, Neji." she said although evidently knowing that she won't be receiving any reply.

"What a fine sunny day. It would be nice to train with you today. I bet that's the first thing you wanted to do once you wake up."

The door suddenly opened.

"Ohayou, Tenten-san."

"Oh, ohayou, Hinata-chan! It's so nice to see you. I haven't seen you yesterday."

"U-uhm, I was here yesterday, but when I tried to visit Neji nii-san, the nurses said he's still on operation so I visited Naruto and Kiba instead."

"I see."

"T-tenten-san, I brought these for nii-san. These are his clothes and some food for the both of you." then she gave her a box.

"Arigatou, Hinata-chan."

"U-uhm, Tenten-san, can you take care of Neji nii-san? I-I need to visit Kiba also."

"No problem, Hinata-chan. Leave him to me. He has a lot of talking to do once he wakes up."

"A-arigatou, Tenten-san."

Hinata left Neji's room. Tenten fixed the things she had brought for him. After that, she went back to her seat beside Neji then she massaged his right hand.

Then she realized what she's doing. She suddenly let go of his hand.

Well, she just held his hand. But she can't deny it, with years of training Jyuuken that needs a lot of work coming from the hands; his hands are still soft and smooth.

And it was the very first time she held his hand.

*sighs*

"H-hmm..."

That caught her attention.

"Neji?"

Then his shiny silver eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the light.

"Neji? Neji?"

She handed him a glass full of water and he drank it up to the last drop.

"H-how are you?"

"T-tenten..."

He tried to sit on the bed.

"Do you feel anything?"

"Tenten..."

"YOU JERK! Why did you go there? You almost got yourself killed! I bet that spider-freak opponent of yours knew your weakness that's why you are hurt so much! What are you thinking?!..."

"Tenten..."

"...you really think that there's no one worrying for you here in the village? I mean, yes I know that you are strong and all but..."

"Tenten?"

The tears she's been holding back run down to her cheeks.

"You... you bastard. You jerk. You ignorant cold bastard... you..." then she hugged him. She felt Neji tensed but he hugged her back after a few seconds.

"Tenten... I am alright."

"Well, I am not! I thought... I almost... I was worried sick and you don't understand. You are... important to me. I... You..."

"Tenten..." he let go from the hug then she found her face a few inches away from his.

He wiped her tears with his thumb then he rested his forehead on hers. He looked at her chocolate eyes deep down.

"...thank you." he said then slowly he leaned nearer, then kissed her...

...on her nose.

While Tenten, trying to hide the bright crimson tint on her face, well it showed actually.

She pulled apart. She didn't push him, she just adjusted some space.

"I-I-I'll go get a doctor. You need-"

"Don't..."

He stopped her by holding her in his arm.

"N-neji..."

"Stay... please..."

He said please. He pleads.

"Well then..." then she went back to her seat again.

Silence...

"Why did I lose a few inches of my hair?" he asked out of the blue.

"A-ah? Umm, they used your hair as a medium to regenerate the cells on your broken tissues. That's what Lady Shizune told me."

"I see. It will take a long time to grow those again."

"I didn't know you were so umm... particular about your hair?"

"I am not. But I just did since last night."

"Last night?"

"Never mind. Can you... run your fingers through my hair again? It feels so relaxing, actually." then he lied to his bed again.

"Again?" then it hit her, "Last night?! Again?! So you knew?! You heard me?!"

She looked at her and he's trying his best not to grin.

"What are you talking about? What do you mean I heard you?"

"Don't act stupid, Hyuuga!"

"I am not stupid. I am a genius."

"Well you are the dumbest genius that ever lives!"

"I am not dumb. I told you, I'm a genius. Hn."

_On the other side of the door..._

"Hey Forehead! You owe me a twenty, don't forget that!"

"Shut up, Ino-pig! You didn't won, Hinata did! So she's the one who's gonna get a twenty."

"Umm, Sakura-san, Ino-san..."

"No! I bet on Neji will be kissing Tenten so I won a twenty!"

"But you said it will be on her lips! But it was on her freakin' nose instead! Darn, Neji is so slow!"

"It was still a kiss, damn it!"

"Ino-san, Sakura-san..." Hinata just sighed.


End file.
